Up In Flames
by Rotem Shahar
Summary: What happens to a little kid who loses everything in a fire?


Title: Up In Flames  
  
Author: Rotem Shahar  
  
Feedback: Laughsr@prodigy.net  
  
Rating: PG  
  
Category: XRAS  
  
Keywords: MSR  
  
Summary: What happens to a little kid who loses everything in a fire?  
  
Disclaimer: Scully, Mulder, and any other characters from The X-Files do not belong to me, they belong to Chris Carter, FOX, and 1013 Productions. No infringement is intended and no money is being made off of the characters. Drew is mine, so if you want to use him, please ask me first.  
  
Authors Notes: I've had this idea for a long time and Cathey said to write a kidfic so this is what happened. This fic has actually been sitting in my notebook for a while; I just never typed it up till now.  
  
~*X*~  
  
Broadland High School  
  
7:22 a.m.  
  
Andrew walked through the halls looking for his only AP class in his junior year, English. He couldn't find it. Again. He'd had problems finding it every day that week. On the first and second day of school it was fine, but he felt stupid not being able to remember where to go. Most of his friends had already thrown out their schedules; having had them memorized after the first two days in school.  
  
'I'm still sleeping. My brain is still on vacation.' He thought to himself, justifying his lack of alertness. 'Hopefully it'll come back soon.' He mused as he looked for someone who looked nice enough to ask for directions.  
  
His baggy pants draped over his shoes, almost tripping him whenever he walked. His shirt was three times too big on him and it came down to almost his knees, while his stringy black hair came down past his shoulders. It was held in a loose ponytail at the base of his neck. People had tried to get him to dress less…baggy, but his parents stood up for him, stating that as long as he felt comfortable, it was fine.  
  
A teacher leaning against the door waiting for his students to enter the room looked like a good person to ask.  
  
"Excuse me. Can you tell me how to get to room 2246?" Drew politely asked.  
  
"Sure, go to the end of the hall and make a right and it'll be the first room on your left." The teacher kindly replied.  
  
"Thanks," Drew said gratefully. He wouldn't be late to class this time. He'd been late to class every day that week and the teacher wasn't very happy with him.  
  
~*X*~  
  
Room 2246  
  
7:29 a.m.  
  
"You're not late." Mrs. Montgomery stated as he entered the classroom and took his seat towards the back of the room.  
  
The bell rang and she started class.  
  
"Good morning. Today you're going to share the autobiographical essays that you wrote. Do I have any volunteers?" She asked, fully expecting most of the class to raise their hands.  
  
When one person finally raised their hand, she exclaimed, "Good! Rebekah, why don't you start us off?"  
  
~*X*~  
  
9:13 a.m.  
  
Five other students had read their essays out loud, and discussion followed. What everyone liked about their essays, what they thought could be improved, and what people thought the essay was missing were the main things discussed, though Mrs. Montgomery did allow for other relevant topics.  
  
"We have time for one more. Who's willing to read?" She waited for a few seconds, but no one raised their hand. "If no one volunteers I'll have to start calling on people." Still, no one raised their hand. "All right. Why doesn't…" Mrs. Montgomery paused, thinking of who to call on.  
  
"I'll read." Andrew volunteered.  
  
"Thank you." The teacher said, surprised to hear from him. For the past week he'd sat in the back, not saying a word the entire class. He didn't talk to his friends or participate in class discussions. She was glad that he'd finally decided to speak up.  
  
"Please, begin."  
  
Drew cleared his throat and started to read.  
  
~*X*~  
  
Flames. Ashes. Smoke.  
  
I could barely breathe. I crawled through the house, trying to get outside, into the fresh air. The flames burned me and I yelped in pain.  
  
Suddenly I was in the air, floating. I looked around and saw a face looking down at me. I felt arms around me, holding me. Who ever it was carried me outside. Luckily for them, I was pretty small for a 7-year-old, so I didn't weigh much and they were able to get me out of the house before it crumbled.  
  
Closing my eyes, I hoped to avoid the stinging from the smoke and ashes. As I opened my eyes waves of dizziness enveloped me; the room swirled, distorting into grotesque shapes.  
  
Beep. Beep. Beep. Whir. Beep, were the noises I first noticed when regaining consciousness while trying to figure out where I was.  
  
I looked around. This woman was sitting next to my bed, looking at some chart.  
  
'Who is she?' I wondered, still too weak to speak.  
  
I slowly realized that I was in a hospital. It was nothing like I had imagined, though I'm not too sure what I was expecting; this was my first time ever being in a hospital.  
  
'Why am I here?' I tried to ask, but my mouth refused to cooperate.  
  
The woman must have heard something; she looked at me and smiled.  
  
I attempted to speak.  
  
"Are you a doctor?" I managed to rasp. "What happened?" My memories were still unclear.  
  
"My name is Dana," she told me. "I'm an FBI Agent and a doctor." She explained as she showed me her badge.  
  
"Wow!" I exclaimed in awe, momentarily forgetting my surroundings.  
  
As I handed back her badge my face paled. I remembered what happened. Tears danced across my cheeks as I remembered the house burning, the pain, not being able to breathe.  
  
"Where's mommy and daddy?" I asked, not knowing what happened to them.  
  
"They're in a different section of the hospital; the burn unit. They were hurt pretty badly in the fire." Dana explained.  
  
"Are they going to be okay?" I asked, not entirely sure what they did in the burn unit, but she said they were hurt badly.  
  
"I hope so." Dana replied, not looking at me.  
  
"I want my mommy and daddy." I told her, my lips quivering.  
  
"Let me go talk to the doctor." She told me as she got up and left the room.  
  
I sat there, tears silently rolling down my cheeks, as I waited for her to return with an answer.  
  
"Well," she started as she reentered the room, "the doctor says that I can take you up there later tonight, when your parents are feeling a bit better. Is that okay?" Dana asked me, not really giving me a choice.  
  
I nodded in acquiescence.  
  
Tears kept falling.  
  
I knew something bad had happened. Not being allowed to see my parents couldn't be a good thing, no matter how I looked at it.  
  
Trying to raise my right hand to brush the hair out of my face, I realized I couldn't. My arm felt heavy. Looking down at it, I saw that it was wrapped in a cast.  
  
I looked at Dana.  
  
"What happened to my hand?" I looked down at the rest of my body. "And my legs?" I added.  
  
"You were burned in the fire." She simply stated.  
  
"I don't feel anything." I told her, not understanding why. If I was burned, it should hurt, my mind reasonably told me.  
  
"That's because the doctors gave you medicine so you wouldn't hurt."  
  
"Did you catch the arsonist?" I asked, hoping to impress her with my big vocabulary. I learned the word in English class a few days before when I had asked the teacher about the string of fires I heard about when my parents were watching the news.  
  
"Yes, we did."  
  
"Good." I said as I closed my eyes, tired from the days events.  
  
"Scully?" Some man asked, popping his head into the room. I opened my eyes and saw Dana get up. She looked at me.  
  
"I'll be right back, okay?"  
  
I nodded.  
  
"Get some rest." She whispered softly as she walked out of the room.  
  
Upon reentering the room a few minutes later, she sat down next to me and told me that her and her friend would stay with me for a few days before going back to Washington D.C.. I nodded and dozed off.  
  
Dana was still there when I woke up.  
  
"The doctors said that you can see your parents now. Do you want me to take you?" She asked me when she realized I was awake.  
  
"Yeah. I want to see my parents."  
  
Dana nodded and brought a wheelchair into the room, helping me into it. She wheeled me into the elevator and into their room.  
  
Their beds were next to each other, and each of them was attached to various machines; none of which I'd ever seen before.  
  
Dana wheeled me in between their beds and left the room, leaving the door ajar.  
  
"Mommy? Daddy?" I asked, my eyes starting to tear.  
  
"Drew?" My mother's weak voice replied.  
  
I hugged her tight, scared of all the machines and the feebleness of her voice.  
  
The machines attached to my dad beeped erratically. Nurses rushed into the room, shoving me aside.  
  
"I love you," my mom called to me. "We both do."  
  
The machines attached to my mother then began to beep erratically, the combined beeping forming the clamorous symphony of death.  
  
Dana rushed into the room and wheeled me back outside as I wept. I wasn't sure what had just happened, but I knew that I'd never see my parents again. She didn't say anything, she just sat next to me in my hospital bed and held me; offering the little comfort she could.  
  
When Dana's friend came looking for her, we were still in the same position, though; I had stopped crying and was just sniffling.  
  
"Scully?" He asked.  
  
"Why does he call you Scully?" I asked Dana.  
  
"It's my last name." She said as though it explained everything. I nodded, expecting more of an answer. When I realized none was forthcoming I shrugged and watched her friend.  
  
"Skinner wants to see you."  
  
"Skinner's here?"  
  
"Who's Skinner?"  
  
"He's our boss." The man answered.  
  
"I'll be right back." Dana told me, getting up and walking towards the door. "Stay with him?" she asked her friend, who nodded and sat down in a chair.  
  
"What's your name?" I asked him once Dana left the room.  
  
"Mulder."  
  
"That's not your name." I said, not believing him.  
  
"It's my last name." He told me.  
  
"What's your first name?"  
  
"Promise not to laugh?" he asked me in all seriousness.  
  
I nodded eagerly.  
  
"Fox."  
  
I tried not to laugh. I really did. First a small smile appeared on my face. Then I started giggling, which, soon enough, erupted into laughter.  
  
"That's not your first name!" I exclaimed.  
  
"Yes it is." He said, showing me his badge. Luckily I'd learned to read two years before. So, even though I couldn't read very well, I could tell that it, in fact, did say Fox Mulder on his badge.  
  
"I'm sorry for laughing." I honestly told him.  
  
"It's okay." He told me as he ruffled my hair.  
  
A few seconds of silence passed when I asked "Tell me a story?"  
  
"A story about what?"  
  
"Anything." I told him, not really caring. I just couldn't stand the silence.  
  
He thought for a moment and then started speaking.  
  
"Once upon a time, in a land far far away, there lived…" Is all I heard before falling asleep.  
  
"Andrew, wake up." Dana said gently, waking me up. It was morning.  
  
"I talked to the doctors and the police and they said that you could leave the hospital as soon as they find you somewhere to stay."  
  
"No one wants me." I told her dejectedly. "We spent our holidays alone. No grandparents or aunts or uncles or cousins or friends. It was just us." I had started crying again.  
  
Dana pulled me towards her, hugging me.  
  
"Is there anyone you want to stay with? Even just for a little bit?"  
  
I shook my head. There was no one.  
  
"Would you like to stay with me? At least for a little while?"  
  
I shrugged, feeling like I had no choice.  
  
Fox entered the room and sat down next to us on the bed.  
  
Dana leaned towards him, and he wrapped his arms around us.  
  
A few minutes later Dana left, promising to return in a few minutes.  
  
When she came back she had talked to the police and they had agreed to release me into her custody. Under one condition, that Fox be there too. They had apparently talked about this beforehand, since Fox seemed to know this would be part of the deal.  
  
They signed me out and booked a flight to D.C. I asked them about my belongings, but nothing had survived the flames. Before our evening flight we went shopping and bought me new clothing instead of the oversized clothing the police gave me when I was signed out.  
  
We waited at the airport for almost an hour before our flight was called. I fell asleep soon after we took off and didn't wake up until we were landing. I managed to make it to the car before falling asleep again.  
  
While we walked I asked, "Why am I so tired?"  
  
"The doctors gave you really strong medicine to make sure that your arm and legs wouldn't hurt during the flight."  
  
I yawned in response.  
  
I slept through the car ride and I slept as someone carried me into the apartment, which was to be my new home.  
  
'Where am I?' I wondered for the second time in three days. I knew I was no longer in the hospital and remembered leaving with Fox and Dana. They must be here somewhere.  
  
Sure enough, a few seconds later Fox entered the room.  
  
"Good afternoon! Nice of you to join us." He said cheerfully.  
  
I grunted and rolled over.  
  
"Come on, get up. Scully – erm, Dana needs to change your bandages and make sure everything is healing properly."  
  
I grunted again, but got up and followed Fox into the bathroom.  
  
Dana unwrapped the bandages and told me that everything looked good and was healing properly. I might have a few scars when everything heals but that it's not a big deal.  
  
"Andrew?" She asked as she finished bandaging my arms and legs.  
  
"Yeah?"  
  
"How would you feel if we were to adopt you? Take care of you until you grow up?" Dana asked me nervously, looking at Fox for support. He stood behind her and wrapped his arms around her waist, kissing her cheek. She threaded her fingers though his as she waited for my reply.  
  
"I'm never going to grow up." I told her.  
  
"Then we'll take care of you until you decide to grow up." Fox interjected.  
  
I hugged them both tightly as I cried, sad that my parents were dead, but glad that I had someone to take care of me.  
  
~*X*~  
  
The bell rang as he finished talking. Rushing out of the classroom, he wiped away the tears that he hadn't realized had fallen.  
  
~*X*~  
  
The End. 


End file.
